PSL chair Irvin Khoza says CEO position should be decided before the league's AGM in November

Premier Soccer League (PSL) chair Irvin Khoza is hoping the future of the league's CEO will have been decided by the time the league holds its AGM in mid November. 

Since 2015 Lamontville Golden Arrows boss Mato Madlala has been acting CEO of the league and while Khoza said he and other members of the league were happy with the “fantastic” work Madlala is doing, he added there was a need to have a permanent accounting officer. 

“This was an issue with the board of governors (BoG) and they gave me an ultimatum to decide whether she (Madlala) divorces herself from the club (Arrows) to become full-time.

“By the time we go to the AGM in November I might have an answer for everybody. We'll also put the matter to the executive committee to decide whether she can be full-time or not.

“But at the moment she's doing a fantastic job ... Hopefully when I go to the AGM on November 15 I'll have an answer for you.”

Khoza was speaking at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Friday where the PSL announced the Motsepe Foundation as the new sponsors of the National First Division which had GladAfrica as its backers until Thursday. 

The new league will be known as Motsepe Foundation Championship and both Khoza and Motsepe Foundation founder and Caf president Patrice Motsepe confirmed that the sponsorship is for five years.

“The issue of the prize money is the issue of the executive committee,” Khoza said. “I'm breaking the news (to them) today, they don't even know what I'm talking about. To them it's like a fish in the water. As to what kind of a fish they don't know.”

The PSL chair added that issue of the broadcast of First Division matches on a regular basis is difficult to confirm. 

“Unfortunately as much as the SABC has got the mandate of giving local content, they always talk about the costs involved in producing those matches,” Khoza said.

“That's why we try to find creative ways of having the matches covered and giving excitement around them. We must make it compelling also for the broadcasters and ensure they get more advertising around those matches to justify the expense and costs to deliver those matches.

“It's the same with the pay TV, the issue of producing those games countrywide is very costly. But we always push for the better every time we sign a sponsorship to make it very popular for the investor into the game. 

“We can't guarantee (any changes) but we're going to discuss it. But we must also make our teams attractive and relevant to their communities. We must show we've got audiences. So they're a lot of permutations that goes with it.  

“To answer this question, we'll try our best to get more games televised but I know it's going to be a hard take on SABC. We might persuade SuperSport to do more.”

Khoza also made it clear that getting the new sponsor for the First Division does not mean they'll do away with the much-maligned promotion relegation playoffs. The playoffs see the team that finish 15th in the Premiership competing against those that have ended second and third in the first division for a place in the Premiership.

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